Introduction
In the recent past, the society was patriarchal in that men were dominant while women were neglected especially when on matters rights and emancipation. Society was constructed in a way that men made all decisions including the family unit and they held all positions of power and authority. Women, on the other hand, were supposed to be dependent on men in all cultural domains. Men were privileged and considered superior from values, traditions, rituals, laws, and formal institutions. This is the context in which Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is etched. In this paper, the focus is to discuss in detail and demonstrate how the play a doll’s house shows the patriarchy in the social issue during this time with feminism.
In Ibsen’s A Doll’s House play, the position of women is under the visible and invisible pressures and hands of the patriarchal system in Norwegian society. The text expresses the social condition and life of men and women to represent a society of that era. Ibsen describes elements that many societies in the traditional period portrayed. As with many other literary works, the drama is commonly represented on stages. Drama helps to depict the history of human life in society, for instance, a doll’s house drama expresses the theme of women’s rights and how individual women ask for their rights and emancipation (Rachma 4). Ibsen created a female character, Nora who abandons her husband and children because she felt that her rights were vindicated. She does this to come off the convectional and traditional picture of women.
Even though Ibsen lays more emphasis on women, he never identified himself as a feminist although his acquaintances and speeches in the play development prove that he is concerned about women. He stresses the protagonist Nora, who is the epitome of modern women when it comes to behavior and choices. As mentioned by Rachma, Nora portrays feminist qualities at the final act in the play (7). She challenges the patriarchal attitudes in the text, particularly the traditional values of men. According to Rachma, it was necessary for men to be concerned about identification, which includes qualities of strength, rationality, control, forcefulness to mention but a few (4). In the same parallel, men living in a patriarchal system were supposed to make all decisions in both their family unit and society. The center of all activities was to be on men and they were involved in all activities to move the society forward. In some situations, men would be heroes meaning that the oppression of women was emphasized. Women were restricted and were not allowed to rise to make decisions or to participate in the leadership process.
Patriarchy and feminist perspective help to understand the nature of inequality between men and women in the play. Oppression, domination, and hegemony patriarchy are explicitly illustrated, particularly how they negatively affect women. On feminism, Ghafourinia and Jamili focus on gender politics, sexuality, and power relations; this opens a forum for women to campaign on reproductive rights, maternal leave, discrimination, domestic violence, equal pay, sexual violence, and sexual harassment (425). Nora takes the feminist role where she seeks to establish equal opportunities for women (Rachma 11). She typically advocates and champions for the rights and equality of women. In the play, Nora is against the traditional ideas of men, which includes ideological and social mechanisms that exert and reproduce make dominance over women.
As with men societies in the passé era, patriarchy advocated for male masculinity; men held the primary power right from the family unit to the community as a whole (Ahmad and Gawel 172). In the family unit, patriarchy was reflected in a way that men controlled everything whereas women lived under manifold structures. The male figure (father, brother, or husband) holds the primary power and they established rigid rules for their wife, sister, and daughter and they expected them to be submissive. Ibsen avows that women’s role was limited to the domestic setting. For example, looking at Nora, she has sacred duties both as a wife and mother. She was treated as inferior for many years. Ibsen reflects the inequality in Nora’s household and the brutal presence of a patriarchal system that made her retaliate.
Ibsen’s drama deals with women’s real condition and position in the family and society. Nora is an example of women who live in their husband’s domination households. Nora is married to Torvald Helmer a director of a bank (Pebruantari 4). Nora is locked by her husband in the house to carry out her daily duties. Her life is spoiled and for this reason, she is forced to be depended on her husband, especially on the financial needs. Torvald is the only financial source in this family. As mentioned by Pebruantari, Torvald takes control of the family including his wife in that he is the only one to make every decision (5). Nora’s existence and opinions do not matter or influence family decision making. The character of Nora is imprisoned by a man who does not want to allow her to contribute anything in the family. Nora’s character is a symbol of colonized women in the hand of a domestic colonizer.
Balak et al. assert that Ibsen’s a doll’s house can be analyzed through the lens of Marxist feminist perspective (35). According to him, the economy greatly influences men's and women's relations in society. For example, looking at work and division of labor, it is men who hold power. At the same time, it is men who make most decisions and set rules. This is also reflected in the family unit in that women depend on their men to decide entirely on every aspect. Marxist feminist theory explores how the aspect of sexuality is portrayed both in the work environment and in the family setting (Ahmad and Gawel 175). Nora depends on Torvald so that she leads a life that is acceptable in her family and society. As with the Marxist feminist perspective, all forms of inequality arise from the economic dependence that is created in society.
Nora and other female figures depicted in the play are the best models of the second sex illustrating that women or girls are given a doll to alter their ego (Ghafourinia and Jamili 425). Girls in the earlier stages of life are taught by society to be women. Their identity is gradually acquired and this provides a radical understanding of gender. They are socialized to be secondary to men; they do not exist as entities of themselves. They live under supremacy illusion and most of the time they find it difficult to understand their miserable condition. For example, Nora lives in a decorative surrounding as a doll who finds out that she is nothing but a controlled instrument in Torvald, her husband’s hands. She lived in a fool’s paradise and an illusion.
The other aspect that Ibsen elucidates is that men are raised to be independent; this makes them be considered superior in a patriarchal society (Ghafourinia and Jamili 425). From the beginning of the play, Tovarld holds fixed principles. He is so much concerned about his reputation. He is a self-seeking person in that he cannot borrow from Nora even if he lacks. Torvald hates debts and borrowing, however, he did not know that his wife borrowed money a long time before. Essentially, men are supposed to control all economic scopes and family finance within the household. Husbands make rules and divide work into different areas. Women, on the other hand, focus on household chores and nurturing. Women’s role is restricted to domestic life where they hardly get time to think about themselves. As with Ibsen, when Nora borrowed, she believed that Torvald will praise her for saving him from a burden, but in reality, nothing of that sort happens.
In a patriarchal system, every word of a man shows a cruel opposite. Torvald promises his wife that he will always be there for her, but in reality, everything is ironic (Ghafourinia and Jamili 426). Torvald becomes a different person who thinks about his reputation and not about his wife. Nora’s belief is shattered and crashed by the rude harsh behavior of her husband. Ironically, women find it difficult to understand their condition within the family setting. Nora feels lonely even though she has three children. There is no love and effective communication between them since if there is Nora could have shared about her borrowing money.
Moreover, in a patriarchal society, women are considered inferior and they are victims of domination (Rachma 6). They are faced with restrictions in the family and society in that they do not express their inner thoughts, wishes, and feelings. To address this, Nora saw the need to change the structural setting of the society. Ibsen portrays Nora in a way that shows his concern not only about women but all humans and individualism (Balak et al. 36). The aspect of feminism will help reshape the social conditions, which is unclear especially with the future position of the workingman and women. Furthermore, Ibsen denotes that women should be allowed to control their estates and this right should be made automatic. Ibsen explained that women should be involved in family decision making because they have similar rights to enter in a marriage just like their husbands.
Nora is an example of a feminist who represents modern women that see male dominance as abusive. She appears at the final scene as free and uncommitted to her husband whom she has given children. This is a reflection of modern marriage in that she also has the right to make a decision (Balak et al. 37). She is not chained to her family by the shackles of wifely duties. Ibsen’s support for feminism becomes evident through this protagonist's character when Nora realized that sacrifice and being submissive has no value for Torvald.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this patriarchal ideology of men is violently rejected by women to liberate themselves from suffering and abusive relationships. Ibsen’s a doll’s house introduces a new era for women to enjoy their rights as autonomous and equal gender. Ibsen tries to shake off the mantles of oppression and subservience to accomplish an undertaking of individual freedom of womanhood. Nora is a reflection of the awakening voice of suppressed and slumberous women.
